Democratic Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has sparked significant controversy in recent days, including from members of her own party, for unilaterally determining that former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from appearing on the state’s 2024 GOP presidential primary ballot.
Trump’s attorneys argued that she should recuse herself from the process due to a series of previous social media statements in which she unequivocally expressed the opinion that the then-president engaged in an “insurrection” based on his behavior ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, protest on Capitol Hill. Her decision to exclude Trump from the ballot hinged on a controversial interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s so-called “insurrection clause.”
These posts were not the only evidence that has surfaced in recent days suggesting that Bellows was influenced, if not motivated, by her political bias.
In the months leading up to her fateful decision last week, she visited the White House on at least two occasions — the first of which included a meeting with President Joe Biden himself.
As she wrote in March as a caption to a photo of herself smiling alongside Biden, the trip was part of a birthday “jaunt” to the nation’s capital.
“So wonderful to see one of my earliest mentors Teresa Younger and fellow first female Secretary Elaine Marshall of North Carolina at the White House reception,” she gushed.
“Amazing to meet President Biden. Grateful for the birthday wishes today.”
She went into greater detail in a press statement following the trip.
“It was an honor to join President Biden, Vice President Harris, and amazing female leaders from around the country to celebrate Women’s History Month at the White House yesterday,” Bellows said. “I hope to someday see the last of the ‘firsts’ like myself, but as we continue to see these groundbreaking leaders in new positions of power, I look forward to celebrating them as part of our nation’s history.”
About three months later, Bellows reportedly returned to the White House, that time meeting with top Biden aide Justin Vail.
🚨 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗡- Maine Secretary of State, and Democrat, Shenna Bellows, visited the White House twice in the past year before she removed Donald Trump from the state ballot. She also referred to the Electoral College as a "relic of white supremacy."
She met President Joe Biden… pic.twitter.com/msUh5arCxr
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) December 30, 2023
As Trump’s attorneys wrote in the letter calling for Bellows’ recusal: “President Trump deserves a fair and impartial hearing. Both the Maine legislature and Maine courts demand that state administrative proceedings must be conducted fairly and with integrity.”
